


Simple as this

by barkspawnvevo



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Inquisition what Inquisition, Modern AU, alternate universe - templars are the police and mages are under their control, they meet in a coffee shop
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-18
Updated: 2016-01-18
Packaged: 2018-05-14 20:12:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5756674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/barkspawnvevo/pseuds/barkspawnvevo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Catherine 'Rina' Trevelyan is an apostate on the run from Ostwick. Cullen Rutherford is an ex-Knight-Commander of Templar Order in Kirkwall. Due to fickle finger of fate, they both end up witnessing the same crime at the same time. Now both of them are placed into a witness protection program... Together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Simple as this

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little something I started writing as a way of taking a break in writing my main Inquisitor/Cullen -fanfic (The Tale of the Trevelyan). This one will be few chapters long, I think. The most cliché plot equipped with the most cliché characterizing, but we all need a way to express our internal desire of being a summer blockbuster's screenwriter. Hope you enjoy!

The morning had dawned over Ferelden's capital Denerim, and the city bathed in soft colors of the rising sun. A warm morning implied that the upcoming day would be sunny - in Matrinalis, it was a nice change to the autumn setting in. As the city woke up to meet a new day, one little coffee shop had an unhappy customer - a young, brown-haired girl of 22 years, named Rina Trevelyan.  
"What do you mean you won't accept these as payment?" Rina asked from the very confused looking barista.  
"I am sorry ma-am, but Ferelden does not use that kind of cash anymore. We changed into all sovereign-based currency after the Blight. Bits and coppers are not valuable currency anymore", the barista, a young boy, answered. Rina cursed in her mind. She knew she should've researched that before coming to Ferelden. But since she hadn't done that, her icy frappe was now left behind the counter and she walked away. As she stepped out of the coffee shop's door and a bell on top of her head made a clinking sound, she had almost expected the weather to turn foul alongside her morning and rain to start falling from the sky right when her foot stepped on the pavement. But as it turned out, the weather stayed the same, lovely and sunny.  
All of a sudden there was a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and behind her stood a tall blond man holding two take-away drinks, a coffee and a frappe. He examined the other one.  
"Rina, is it?" he asked. Rina nodded with a curious look on her face. The man handed the frappe to her. "Here. I payed it for you - can't let a lady go without her drink", he said and smiled. Rina felt a blush creep up her latte-colored cheeks and took the drink, mumbling something that could've been interpreted as a "thank you".  
"I'm sorry, I don't think I introduced myself. My name's Cullen", the man said and offered Rina his hand.  
"Well, you obviously know my name already so I won't bother, but nice to meet you, Cullen", Rina said and shook his hand. She rose her forest-green eyes to meet his brown ones which seemed to be eyeing her with an interested look in them.  
"Do you have somewhere to go or would you wish to drink your drink on the go with me?" Cullen asked her. Rina shrugged her shoulders and grinned.  
"Might as well", she answered.  
  
They walked around the market area. Cullen asked Rina where did she come from since she didn't have any Fereldan currency. Rina explained that she had just arrived to Ferelden from Ostwick: she had gotten herself an apartment and that that had took all of her sovereigns. However, she left untold the fact that she was actually an apostate on the run who had arrived to Denerim with a sole purpose of getting lost into the crowd.  
"Plus I don't like carrying around cash. It's just so impractical. There's coins everywhere: in your bag, in your house, in your clothes...", Rina said as they were walking past the royal palace  
"I think I see your point. Hey, want to know something?" Cullen asked her.  
"Yeah, sure", Rina answered and Cullen pointed at the palace.  
"I knew King Alistair when he was a young templar recruit in the Chantry."  
"No way!"  
"Yes. From what I've heard about him, it's nice to see he hasn't lost his humor and become as snotty as the usual nobles."  
Rina thought that maybe she should feel a bit offended from this: she was, after all,  of noble birth - the youngest child of the Trevelyan house of Ostwick. Not that it had done her much good after she was a child. Sure, she had grown up in a noble home and had some privileges of it, but ever since she had shown the signs of magic, her family had sheltered her to avoid the attention of her being a mage in the fear that the templars would take her to the Circle. Rina had often been left out of nobility gatherings and when asked why she was absent, the reason was always along the lines of "Oh, our daughter's just shy, she isn't much of a fan of these kind of parties". Once in a blue moon her parents dared to use the "she is sick" -excuse. Rina decided to let this one comment towards nobles to slip by: after all, she didn't identify with them much.  
"So, how did you meet the king when he was a templar? I thought the Chantry kept the templars, especially the ones improperly trained, practically within their walls", Rina said, trying to derail the subject away from nobles.  
"Oh, right. I guess I didn't mention that I used to be a templar? Well, I was. I trained and served at Ferelden's circle at first, but then later transferred to Kirkwall. There I reached the rank of the Knight-Commander, but eventually I left", Cullen said, but Rina was listening with only one ear. _A templar. Right in front of me._ Every mage instinct in Rina's body yelled at her to run away, so she made up an excuse to do just so.  
"I am so sorry, but I just remembered that I have to meet up with my landlord about my new apartment. drink anyways", she apologized.  
"You're welcome... And sorry to hear that. Would you like to meet again later? I can give you my number", Cullen said and wrote his number to a piece of paper he had dug from his bag.  
"Yeah, sure. I-I'll call you!" Rina answered and walked away with a hurried pace.  
  
As Rina slam the door of her apartment shut behind her, she grabbed her cell phone from her purse and selected a number. The phone rang for some time, and Rina started counting the ringing sounds. One, two, three, four rings until her sister Emily picked up the phone.  
"Hey, it's me here. What's up?" Rina asked.  
"Oh, hi! Mm, not much. Dad told me to say hi to you next time you called, so, 'hi'! Where are you now?"  
"In Denerim."  
"What are you doing in Ferelden?"  
"What am I doing in anywhere these days? Staying out of sight of course. I figured that this is as good of a place as any, being a big city and all."  
"How's that working out right now?"  
"It's good. I just rented an apartment. A cute little place with a small balcony overlooking at the Denerim's market. You should come and visit me sometime. I think I'm going to be here for awhile. It's a good place to get lost in the crowd."  
"And here I thought you decided to stay there because you met somebody."  
"Not... exactly."  
"Aha! So there is _somebody_!"  
"Emily, I'm not that nosy when it comes to your dating life."  
"My dating life is public information, mom makes sure of it. You however... You are on the road, meeting fascinating strangers..."  
"You read too much of the fairytales about romantic vagabonds when we were young."  
"Maybe. Anyways, tell me about this mystery person! How you met, what do they look like et cetera."  
Rina sighed.  
"Ok then. He's a tall and blond, kinda athletic and kinda skinny at the same time, you know? So, we met at a coffee shop - oh stop giggling, it's not cute, it's a cliché and you know it too! He bought me my frappe when I was short of a few coins. After that, we walked around for a bit and talked. We walked past the royal palace, and he said that he knew King Alistair when he was just a young templar recruit in the Chantry and that he, and I sorta quote, 'is glad that the king hasn't seemed to get snotty like the most nobles'. Oh, and here's where it gets good: the guy's an ex-templar! And not just any everyday templar, he was a Knight-Commander in Kirkwall after the mage rebellion lashed out!"  
Emily was silent at the other end of the line. "Wow", she said after a while.  
"So, what did you do when you found out?" Emily asked.  
"I bolted, of course. Mumbled something about calling him later, but of course I can't do that... Can I?"  
"Was there anything good about the date? Or about him?"  
"I had fun as far as it lasted. And I guess he is kinda cute. In his own 'if-I-knew-what-you-really-were-I-would-hate-you" kind of way. And he was great to talk with. Also thoughtful. That was nice."  
" If you' re going to keep dating this man, you're going to have to come clean with the truth at some point".  
"I know, I know. But who said anything about keeping dating him? And it's not exactly stuff you say during the first date: 'Hey we just met but wanna know something? I'm a mage and an apostate of that!' And to top it off, considering what I assume to be his slight disgust towards nobles, I could of course mention that I am the youngest daughter of Bann Trevelyan of Ostwick."  
"You said 'first date'. Does that mean you want there to be more?"  
"What? No! I mean... Shut up!"


End file.
